Courting for Dummies
by DeviantSlashGod
Summary: Join Gabriel through the hardships of courting, as he follows, and then corrects the Courting for Dummies Guide. But what happens when there is a murder on his Campus? Will the killer be found before any of his friends are hurt? Alpha/Beta/Omega AU.
1. Prologue

Courting for Dummies

1\. Show your interest  
2\. Give/Receive Courting Gift  
3\. 5 Day Waiting Period  
4\. Meeting the Parents  
5\. The Talk  
6\. Public Knowledge  
7\. Rivals and How to Avoid Death  
8\. Apology Gifts  
9\. Anniversarys  
10\. Weekend with the Family  
11\. Unexpected Events and How to Cope  
12\. Official Relationship

"How hard could Courting even be?" Gabriel muttered, shoving the leaflet into his pocket to avoid the gaze of passers by. "Guess I'll find out..."


	2. Chapter 1

Gabriel: Courting for Dummies

1\. Show your interest.

"Show Your Interest?" Gabriel mused, glaring at the small leaflet in his hands. Since he'd picked it up, he'd retreated back to the dorms, thankful to read this drivel in privacy rather than on campus where everyone could see him panic.

Hadn't he already shown his interest?

He'd come onto Sam Winchester more times than he could count reckoning the number to be somewhere in the low hundreds.

Sighing, Gabriel flicked the leaflet onto the desk wondering just how he was meant to 'show' his interest. For a step by step guide, it wasn't very informative (though there were lines for him to write down his experiences with each topic, as if that was meant to help in some way).

What would really help, would be to have an actual Councilor around the campus. It was big enough, dorms stretching as far as the eye could see, not to mention just how big the actual school was. There are coaches, and mentors, but what the school really needed was a councilor, to speak to both Omega's, Alpha's and Beta's in their time of need.

Would probably be used as more of a joke though, thinking about it.

"Why the fuck do you look so moody?"

"Shut it, Winchester." Gabriel hissed, not having heard his dorm mate when he entered their room. Not that the hissing had ever stopped Dean before, it even caused him to pluck the leaflet from the desk, looking it over with unhidden amusement.

"Who the hell are you courting?"

Great. If Mr. Dean "Romantic" Winchester couldn't even tell, it was no surprise Sam hadn't clued in on it either.

"No-one." Gabriel pouted, arms folding over his chest.

"Sweetie." And never before had that sounded like such an insult. "If you're taking the time out of your busy schedule to read somethin' that isn't erotica, you clearly mean business with whoever it is you're trying to get in the sack."

Gabriel continued to pout.

Dean sighed, and as if bracing himself, took a seat next to his friend. Omega he might be, but he surmised his experience might be able to help; and though he liked to give his roommate hell about some things, he was more than willing to do him a solid in this case.

"Is it Kali?"

"What, no!"

"Then who?"

Pursing his lips, Gabriel shrugged. What if he told Dean, and got punched in the face? It wouldn't be the first time Dean resorted to violence on behalf of his brother, nor the first time he punched Gabriel come to think of it. But, if Gabriel lied and said it was someone else, Dean was likely to try and set him up. Something he most definitely did _not_ want. Truth it was, then. "Sam."

A wave of shock passed over Dean's face before he nodded. It made sense, Gabriel was always asking about Sam, looking out for him, happier when he was around. Come to think of it, Dean wasn't all that surprised at all. Adding then that Gabriel actually seems serious, picking up a _Courting Leaflet_ of all things... "Yeah, okay. I can work with that."

"Huh?"

"So you like my brother; big deal. I'd rather have _you_ dating him than that Ruby chick who's been sniffing him out lately."

Huffing at that information, Gabriel snatched back the booklet. "How the hell am I meant to 'show my interest' anyway?"

"If that's what you call what you've been trying..."

"Fuck you."

Sighing, Dean looked to the ceiling, as if looking to Heaven for guidance. "I'm serious Gabriel. Smacking Sam's ass and telling him you'd like to climb him like a tree wasn't the smoothest way to show your interest in him."

"Maybe not." Gabriel grinned. "But he's fucking adorable when he blushes."

Rolling his eyes, Dean placed a hand on Gabriel's back. "Try something less extreme. He's been after a new notebook for his studies; get him something nice and sensible, and he'll be overjoyed. Trust me."

"Yeah?" Gabriel sighed. "I guess maybe you're right."

Biting his lip, Gabriel glanced around the study hall for the thousandth time that morning. He didn't have classes today, but on Dean's advice had come here to see Sam in his 'private' space.

None of their friends would be there, but Stamford was a big school. It would make the presentation a little less awkward at least. And at the moment, only a few students were scattered about in the large groupings of tables, books and chairs.

Being a little panicky, he'd already fired off over 50 texts to Dean, and just as he was about to call it quits and head back to his dorm, Gabriel spotted Sam walk through the door.

The Alpha's shaggy hair was falling into his eyes, and he was deep in reading whatever nerdy book was clasped in his bear paws. How someone became so tall when so young was a mystery to Gabriel's much shorter self, but he had to admit, he kind of liked it.

"Samsquatch!" he chorused across the study hall, gaining a few glares from the quiet studiers, but largely ignored by those in groups. Sam's head snapped up, and as his eyes met Gabriel's a goofy grin crossed his face.

Sitting back down, Gabriel watched as Sam hurried over.

"You're studying?" Sam inquired as he approached, raising an eyebrow at Gabriel, motioning to the empty desk before him.

"Huh-? - oh! yeah" Gabriel grinned. "I just got here." There was a snort of laughter from an Alpha nearby, and Gabriel shot him a glare.

"I didn't realise you had any tests coming up." Sam observed, sitting in the space opposite Gabriel, already setting his own books onto the desk.

"I wanted to put forward an Omega's Study Programme, so came here to do a bit of people watching." It wasn't a complete lie; Gabriel had been throwing the idea around with Dean for a while now, and they were going to make it a project for their final year.

"That sounds pretty cool." Sam seemed impressed, and Gabriel beamed at the Alpha's approval.

Snapping his fingers, Gabriel pointed at Sam. It was time to present the gift, and honestly his insides were shaking. What if Sam hated it? What if he threw it back in Gabriel's face? On the other hand, maybe he'd love it, maybe he'd grin and Gabriel with his cute dimples and floppy hair?

"I got you something." Digging through his bag (which shall be read as: pushing through empty chocolate wrappers) Gabriel hummed, seeing Sam's curiosity growing out of the corner of his eye. Pulling out the neatly wrapped, candy decorated gift, Gabriel handed it over to Sam with a shy smile.

Typically, Sam rolled his eyes at the choice in paper, but accepted the gift, slowly opening the paper, careful with it.

"Neat freak."

"Study hall." Sam replied.

As he extracted the gift and examined it Sam's eyebrow's furrowed. "Gabriel.." he breathed.

"Nice, isn't it?" The Omega leaned over the table, coming closer, his fingers reaching to outline the details on the book. "Hand stitched, leather bound. It'll be a great notebook, or a journal if you want. Do you like it?"

"I can't accept this."

The grin dropped from Gabriel's face, and he could feel his heart in his throat, an empty pit in his stomach. "What?"

"I can't." Sam pushed the gift over the desk to Gabriel, but the Omega jerked back, as if it would burn him if it came too close

"Just- just keep it okay?" There was so much hurt on Gabriel's face, but Sam couldn't understand why, it was only a little gift, it wasn't like Sam had just stabbed him.

* * *

Unable to make eye contact, Gabriel fled from the study hall, depression rolling off him in waves.

"He rejected you?!"

Gabriel had bundled himself up in all of the blankets he could find in his and Dean's dorm, and was determined to melt into the bed, or suffocate from lack of fresh air.

"Yes...or did you not sense it in my damn scent?" inquired the Omega with much more patience and tolerance than he felt.

"That stupid knot-head!"

Despite the layers, Gabriel could hear Dean's angry pacing across the floor, and the calm thrum of Castiel's voice, offering his support.

None of them had expected Sam to reject Gabriel.

"The gift was-"

"-Gabriel's best shot at showing Sammy he was interested, and starting the whole Courting process. That moron-!"

"-Please, Dean, the Journal-"

"-How could he be so stupid? Rejecting Gabriel like that-"

"-Dean!"

The pacing stopped, and Gabriel peeked out from under his covers, wrinkling his nose at the sight of Castiel's hands on Dean's hips.

"I know that the journal was incredibly expensive. Perhaps Sam saw it's value instead of the motion that it was meant to carry."

"Expensive?" Now Dean was glaring at the huddled figure under the blankets with fire in his green eyes "I told you to make it simple!"

"It was simple!" Gabriel yelled back, hanging onto his sheets as Dean tried to pull them off "A simple, hand stitched, leather bound notebook! It wasn't like it had been encrusted with jewels; I even denied the gold thread option!"

Dean let go of the blankets and watched as Gabriel fell back into the heap.

"How much?"

"In the low hundreds," he squeaked.

"Damn it Gabriel!" Dean ran his hands through his short hair. "I was thinking twenty bucks at the absolute most! No wonder he didn't take it!"

"I don't understand," Gabriel sniffed, pushing the blankets away from him, "It's the least

expensive courting gift anyone in my family has ever given."

"What?"

"Michael got Lucifer a Villa in Spain. Becky got Chuck a whole publishing corporation! Fuck, Castiel got you that leather jacket!"

Dean's face paled, and he turned to look at Castiel, who was wearing a rather guilty expression.

"You said you found it for a bargain."

"It was a bargain." Castiel insisted.

"How much?"

"I don't understand why cost-"

"How much, Castiel!?"

"It was in the low thousands..."

Gabriel was sure that Dean was about to faint on the spot, and Gabriel reached out with open arms to grab him, seeing Dean sway on his feet.

"Low. Thousands," he whimpered. Sure the jacket had been a perfect fit, almost as if it had been tailored for him, but he hadn't thought anything of it at the time. He'd never thought that Castiel would have...

"Fuck." Dean fell back to sit on the edge of Gabriel's bed, head in his hands. "I've been throwing it in the back-seat of the Impala."

"It is yours to do with as you wish." Castiel reassured him "It's only upon your request I have not been showering you with similar gifts. In our family, money is no issue, and we like to provide for our m- partners."

"You lied to me." Dean hissed.

"I never lied." Castiel's expression was sincere. "Our uncle Zachariah owns the shop from where I purchased it. When I told him it was my courting gift to you, he sold the jacket to me for half of the ticketed price. It was a bargain; yet I would have gladly paid much, much more, if only to see your expression of utter joy again."

Dean flushed, and Gabriel made a gagging sound.

"Back to the issue at hand if you don't mind! Sam's rejection."

"Well, he has got low self-esteem. It could explain why he rejected the expensive gift. I will go and speak with him." Castiel stood, pressing a kiss to Dean's forehead on his way past.

Time to search for Sam. Which actually wasn't that hard. If he wasn't in the study hall, class, or with Dean, he could only be in one other place.

The Library.

Approaching a sitting Sam was easy enough, they were friends, had been since childhood. Although, Castiel really wasn't the best at approaching _subjects._

"Were you aware that Gabriel presented you with a Courting gift?"

"A Courting gift?!"

If it weren't for the absolute terrified look on Sams face, Castiel would have berated him for yelling.

"Yes. Gabriel is rather distraught that you have rejected him."

"I didn't-" Sam's face fell. "Oh." The guilty expression was enough to make Castiel pity the other Alpha. "I didn't know. I guess it makes a little more sense though..." Sam was fiddling with the pages in his text book, and Castiel gathered his inner strength for the heart to heart he was about to be pulled into.

Winchesters were problematic creatures.

"If you do not wish to return the Courting gift-"

"-I-" Sams shoulders slumped. "I wish I could hit a re-do button and do this morning all over again."

Castiel's head tilted to the side. "Does that mean you would have accepted the gift?"

"Castiel, I like Gabriel. More than I've ever liked anyone. I just never thought I'd have the chance with him; he's perfect, you know? But he flirts with anyone; heck, at one point I thought him and Dean were dating, they were so handsy with each other. So; when he gave me the gift, I thought it was just from a friend. That's why I rejected it. If I'd taken it and Gabriel had only wanted friendship..."

"... Your biology would have taken it to be a Courting Gift, due to your feelings, and you would have despaired when he figured it out and rejected you."

"Yeah. I wanted Gabriel to give his consent, informed consent, I was going to give him a Courting Gift before Prom if he was still single, you know? If I had known that was his gift for me-"

"-Then you would have surely accepted."

"Yes. In a heart beat."

"And the value doesn't worry you?"

Sam blinked, confused.

"Gabriel could have given me a candy wrapper and told me it was a Courting Gift, and I would have accepted. I don't see what money..." Sams eyebrows furrowed. "It wasn't expensive, right? Because I don't have a lot of savings-"

"Sam." A smile quirked at Castiel's lips. "Gabriel does not care about your finances. Nor about money in general. You are aware of his conflict with our parents. Money has the only value of being able to keep a roof over his head, and that is usually all he would care for, it is only because of his conflict with the family that he has insisted previously for the most expensive of items. Much like yourself, he could care less what you buy him; he only cares that you cherish him, as I am sure you will do."

Sam's goofy smile took over his face. "You really have a way with words, huh?"

"Dean begs to differ. Often telling me to 'shut my pie hole'" The finger quotations he added to the statement made Sam snort with laughter.

" _Ahem._ If you two aren't going to behave you can leave my Library."

Sam and Castiel lowered their heads in a sign of respect, muttering apologies to the stern Librarian.

Only minutes later the pair were shuffling out, intent on giving Gabriel some good news.

Metal clashed against metal, and Gabriel hissed in defeat.

"Let it be known." Dean called out. "That the mighty have fallen, and in their wake, one shall rise as the Ice. Cream. King!"

Scooping up the treat into his mouth, Dean chuckled as Gabriel attempted to wrestle him, for a spot within the Tub of Heaven for his spoon.

"Long live the Queen!" Gabriel roared in a short-lived victory, pulling the tub from Dean's hands and falling off of the sofa, cackling as his shoveled the softening goodness into his mouth with happy abandon.

Of course, that would be when Castiel and Sam arrived, looking on with amusement.

"Long live the Queen?" Castiel questioned.

"Yeah, long live Gabriel the Size Queen."

Gabriel choked on his mouth full of ice-cream, and thumped at his chest as he stood, wheezing.

"Dean, may I have a moment of your time?"

"Hmm? Sure, Cas." Dean cast a worried glance between Sam and Gabriel, but left the two alone, stepping into the hallway with Castiel.

"So-"

"I'm not really a Size Queen, you know? I mean, not that there is anything wrong with sizes, if you catch my drift, it's the motion of the ocean not the size of the boat and all that-"

"-Gabriel."

Sam smiled, occupying the seat that Dean had just left, raising his eyebrows in amusement. "Did you know you babble when you're nervous?"

Lowering his bag so it was on the floor, Sam dug through it, pulling out the Journal.

"Keep it." Gabriel squeaked. "Please-"

"Gabriel Novak." Sam turned to face the Omega, the gift in his hands. "I thank you for your gift, and would be honoured if you still wish to be courted by me."

Gabriel's jaw snapped closed, and he watched Sam for a few moments to make sure this wasn't a dream.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"But before-"

"-I hadn't realised it was a Courting gift, and if I had known I would have accepted it in a heartbeat. I'm sorry I reacted the way I did before."

Gabriel's face lit up a grin, to the point his cheeks were aching. "I would like you to court me, Mr. Winchester."

"Then shall we seal this agreement with a kiss?" Snorting, Gabriel rolled his eyes, and Sam chuckled with embarrassment. "Hey, I didn't make the rules, but I intend to follow them."

"Then kiss away, O'Alpha." teased Gabriel, pulling Sam into a light kiss.

"You won't regret this. I promise."


	3. Chapter 2

Courting for Dummies Chapter 2

Courting Gift

Traditionally the Omega must make the first move by showing their interest. This could be as simple as the Omega saying they're interested, or as in Gabriel's case, an actual gift.

Then, it's the Alpha's turn. This should always happy within 5 days, but should be a surprised to the Omega.

It had been 2 days since Sam had accepted the official 'show of interest' Courting Gift from Gabiel, and Sam was stumped.

Knowing that Gabriel wouldn't care what he was given wasn't helping Sam's cause at all, how could he make this special when he had no clue as to what Gabriel wanted?

"You're meant to be Courting the guy, not planning his burial. Smile a bit would you?"

"Dean." Sam whined. "This is really difficult, okay?"

"For fucksake, buy him a lolly pop and get it over with."

"Dean." Sam snapped this time. "This is serious."

" **What** is so serious that you're snapping at your brother, _hmm_?"

Sam slumped, looking apologetically to Ellen.

"Sams Courting Gabriel and he's only got 3 days left to present his gift."

"Dammit Dean! Must you?!" Sam snapped again, resulting in a slap across the back of his head from Ellen.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Sorry Ellen. I really want to make this special, but don't know how..."

The scariest grin Sam had ever seen crossed Ellen's face, and he shuddered in his seat, noting that Dean did the same. At least he wasn't the only one scared of their adopted mother.

"Luckily for you, Uncle Rufus has a cabin only a few hours drive from here, and just so happens to be away for a little while, won't be able to make it back for his quarterly visit like he wished, wanted Bobby to go check upon the place for him. It's nice, remote, in the woods. I think there is a lake nearby too. Would give you two some bonding time."

Sams features brightened, and he even sat up a little straighter. That was a perfect idea-!

"- But, you'll have to take Dean and Jo with you."

Sam slumped once more.

"You need a chaperone, and if Dean goes, so does Castiel, which means you're still one chaperone short. Jo can go with you, you can one of the family carriers from the yard, and it will _still_ be a great time."

Well, it would be better than buying Gabriel some sweets, a little more thoughtful. Though he might still buy the sweets too, Gabriel's sweet-tooth was unbelievable at times.

Making memories together, now that sounded romantic, the perfect Courting Gift.

"Okay." Sam nodded his head. "But this has to stay a surprise..."

Gabriel was in a foul mood. Dean had been hiding something from him, not to mention his favourite sweater had gone missing as of last night, and Sam still hadn't given Gabriel his Courting Gift. At this moment in time, Gabriel would settle for it being a phone call.

"Gabriel!"

Kicking out at the person who was trying to communication with him, Gabriel smirked into his pillow at the resulting curses. It was too damn early to be friendly.

"Damn it, Gabriel, get your fat ass out of bed, we're meeting Jo for breakfast, remember?"

Groaning, Gabriel then whimpered out "I don't want to move."

"Stop being a baby. Jo said she'd buy you the biggest, chocolatiest drink she could find."

Sniffing into the blanket, Gabriel announced "I want **Sam** to do that."

Rolling his eyes, Dean huffed. Getting Gabriel out of bed was key, without him this surprise wasn't worth anything at all. "We could go to the arcade?" Dean offered, tugging at the blankets.

"Dance Dance Revolution?"

"I'll even get Cas to dance with you!"

"Deal!" Gabriel flung the blankets off, cackling as Dean fell backwards with a surprised yell. "Give me give minutes and we'll go." Already running to the bathroom, Gabriel quickly prepared for the day.

"That moron really loves to dance..."

"So Cas actually agreed to DDR with me?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Fuck. How did you manage th- you know what, I really don't want to know." The pair were just leaving their dorm, having taken a little longer due to Gabriel being unable to find his backpack. With everything else that had gone missing, Gabriel had wanted to report it to the Campus Manager. If there was some Alpha Knot Head breaking into dorms to steal things, they needed to be stopped. It was only at Dean's insistence that they would have scented an Alpha intruder that Gabriel dropped the idea.

Causing mass panic was not on today's to do list.

"I asked him is all, get your mind outta the gutter."

"Last time I asked him to dance with me he snapped. And you know how often Castiel actually snaps at people. You must have him wrapped around your little finger."

"Yeah." Dean grinned.

Just as they stepped outside a car horn sounded, and Gabriel could only stare at the rather beaten people carrier parked outside. What was more shocking, was Sam in the drivers seat, waving at Gabriel like a buffoon. Throwing a look of suspicion over his shoulder to Dean, Gabriel slowly walked over to the car.

"Surprise!" Sam clambered out of the vehicle, arms wide as if to show off his magical van. Which looked like it might fall apart at any given moment.

Quriking an eyebrow in question, Gabriel leant to the side to look around Sam at the people carrier, clearly unimpressed. "Don't tell me you paid money, like actual, real, money for that thing."

Sams arms dropped, and he pouted. "No."

"Oh-thank-Jesus."

"This is the first part to your gift..." The kicked puppy expression could do nothing to make this experience any less dire. "-It gets better, I promise!"

Well, Sam had gone to the trouble of robbing a car graveyard for him. "F _iii_ ne. But only because you're sorta attractive in the right light." Letting out an undignified squeak when he was pulled into a hug, Gabriel playfully slapped at Sam's shoulder.

"Great! Castiel and Jo are already in the car-"

"-Dean!" Gabriel hissed. "We were never going to DDR were we?"

Grinning, Dean slapped a friendly hand on Gabriel's back, yanking open one of the doors and slipping into the back-seat of the car.

"Surprise."

The car wasn't too bad on the inside, no suspicious stains at least. There were two seats in the front, three in the middle and what looked like space for two extra seats in the back, all though they were missing – probably sold for scrap at some point. It made the boot big enough that you could hide a dead body in there, Gabriel knew because he had checked, worried about killer zombies on their road trip.

With Sam and Jo up front (arguing about whatever it was two nerds argued about), it was up to Gabriel to play buffer in the back, sat between Castiel and Dean to stop rather intimate activities from taking place.

"You two sicken me." Gabriel gagged, catching the pair making bedroom eyes at each other once more.

"If you let us sit together you wouldn't have to see us."

"And up with you pregnant? No thanks." Despite the punch to his arm, Gabrie cackled, waggling his eyebrows in a suggestive manner at Dean.

"All round and fat with babies-" Dean was shaking Gabriel by the collar now, but it only made the Omega louder in describing Deans future pregnancy.

"Cut it out guys, don't make me pull over!"

"But Sammich~" Gabriel whined, slapping at Dean's hands and leaning as far into Castiel as he could. "I'm only telling the truth, plus if these two start going at it in the car we'll break down for sure!"

Sam rolled his eyes. "For the last time, we wouldn't all fit in the Impala."

"Dean could've sat in Castiel's lap!"

"Nah, Sammy can't drive my Baby, won't let 'im."

"Then I would have sat in Sam's lap." Gabriel countered with a wiggle of his head.

The car swerved, tires screeching against the road and horns beeping around them, Omega's clinging together and Castiel's knuckles white as he gripped his seat.

"Sorry! Sorry.." Sam's whole face was flushed, and Jo was laughing so loudly Gabriel was surprised they hadn't all gone deaf.

"Damn it, Sam!" Dean scolded, but was unable to keep the grin off his face. "Stop thinking with your knot and keep your eyes on the road." Untangling himself from his hold on Gabriel (the panic had gotten the best of him, okay?) Dean huffed, folding his arms over his chest.

"I changed my mind." Gabriel pretend whispered to Castiel. "You can sit next to him. All this negative energy is clogging up my pores."

Castiel snorted in amusement, and even Dean had to laugh at Gabriel's comment. At least the mood was brightened.

"How in the hell did he manage to fall asleep?"

Dean shrugged – as much as he could anyway, with Gabriel clinging to his arm. "To be fair, he's not had his morning coffee, and non of us have eaten yet." Though they had needed to stop for 30 minutes when the drivers wing-mirror starting to flap in the wind. That was also when Gabriel had given up and said that Dean could sit next to Castiel, now though Dean suspected it was so Gabriel could curl up against him and not worry about kicking Castiel in his sleep.

"I'm surprised we had yet to hear about the lack of sugar from Gabriel himself."

"Nah Cas, he's trying to appear all grown up and mature for Sammy."

"But why?" Sam asked in confusion. "We've all been friends since we were kids, I know that Gabriel isn't mature already."

"Oh yeah – remember that time he'd convinced you he killed Dean?" Jo offered.

Dean let out a snort of laughter, but was silenced with a glare from Sam. Right. Not funny. (Though it really was).

"He wants to impress you, stupid." Jo rolled her eyes, flicking some hair over her shoulder as she turned to face Sam. "Gabriel went from 'I don't give a fuck about Alpha's' to 'Look at me Alpha I'm so obedient and cute' overnight. He wants to make sure you're going to stick around."

"Yeah." Dean added "Took me forever to get him out of bed this morning too. He was convinced you'd already changed your mind and weren't going to give him the courting gift. I had to promise Cas would DDR with him just to get him to move."

"Something I will _not_ be doing, thank you Dean." Castiel piped up.

"Aww come on Cas, I promised him." Dean added a little whine into his voice, batting his eyes up to Castiel, who scoffed in response.

"And in return?"

"I'll make it up to you." Dean purred.

Jo and Sam groaned in Unison. "Dude, gross. Not in the car."

" _Well, call it personal experience, but nobody gets that angry unless they're talkin' about their own family." Dean was older. Haggered and grumpy. This was a dream, Gabriel knew because he'd had it before, often in fact._

" _So which one are you? Grumpy, Sneezy or Douchey?" Sam was tall, very tall and his words were like knives cutting into him._

" _Gabriel, okay? They call me Gabriel." As always a sense of relief flooded him, the name seemingly unfamiliar on the vessels tongue. It had been centuries since he'd uttered that name. "So, boys, now what? Stare at each other for the rest of eternity?"_

" _Well first of all you're gonna bring Cas back from wherever you stashed him." Always worried about Castiel, that was the Dean Winchester Gabriel knew._

" _Oh am I?" His sarcasm was clear, angering the Winchester._

" _Yeah. Or we're going to_ _ **dunk**_ _you in some holy oil, and deep-fry ourselves an archangel!" It was more a promise then a threat, and Gabriel snapped his fingers, Castiel appearing injured, breathing hard, but still alive._

" _Cas, you okay?"_

" _I'm fine. Hello Gabriel."_

" _Hey bro. How's the search for Daddy going? Let me guess: awful." The joy Gabriel had felt at seeing Castiel switched to anger, hatred. He'd already tried looking for their father, searched for millennia, countless planets, era's, and had come up with nothing. If an Archangel couldn't find him, how could a regular Angel, and one as misguided as Castiel?_

" _Okay, Gabriel. How does an Archangel become a trickster?" The fire was growing hotter around him, and was singing the tips of his wings, unseen to the Hunters eyes._

" _My own, private, witness protection. I skipped outta Heaven, had a face transplant, carved out my own little corner of the world. 'Til you two screwed it all up."_

" _And what'd Daddy say when you ran off and joined the pagans?"_

" _Daddy doesn't say anything about anything." It wasn't clear from his tone, but there was so much hurt inside of him, admitting that their father had just left them, alone and with no guidance._

" _Then what happened? Why'd you ditch?" Ever curious Sam._

" _Well do you blame him? I mean his brothers are heavy-weight douche-nozzles." The same badmouth Dean._

 _Anger bubbled up inside of him, and he was unable to control his outburst. Not that he could ever control this dream, like a broken record playing over and over. "Shut your cake-hole. You don't know anything about my family. I **loved** my father, and my brothers. Loved them! But watching them turn on each other? Tear at each other's throats? I couldn't bear it! Okay? So I left. And now it's happening all over again._

" _Then help us stop it!"_

' _Sam' his insides cried 'I want to help, I do!' "It can't be stopped!"_

" _You want to see the end of the world?"_

' _Dean, so naive. I've witnessed it a thousand times over already' his mind offered. "I want it to be_ _ **over**_ _! I have to sit back and watch my brothers kill each other, thanks to you two! Heav_ _e_ _n, Hell, I don't care who wins! I just want it to be over!"  
_

" _It doesn't have to be like that!" The edges of the warehouse were starting to fade out, and Gabriel was fighting, he needed to know what happened next, why did it always have to end there?_

" _There has to be some way to, to pull the plug!"_

 _No!_

 _No Gabriel didn't want to leave yet!_

"NO!" Gabriel jerked, fighting against the hold on him, punching the sucker square in the jaw.

"Ho-LY _SHIT,_ GABRIEL!" That was Dean's voice. His Dean's voice. Blinking open his eyes, Gabriel saw Sam clutching at his jaw, ducking out of the car and staggering a bit. Dean was crawling in through other side, checking Gabriel over to make sure he was okay. "Dude, what happened?"

"Just… Just a bad dream." Gabriel offered with a little smile. Dean frowned at him, concerned.

"I've seen you wake from bad dreams, you don't usually punch people in the face."

"Uh yeah, about that. Is Sam okay?" Castiel and Jo were crowding around Sam, Castiel prying the Alpha's hands away from his jaw so he could take a look.

"Sammy'll be fine. He's a tough kid. What I need to know is, are **you** okay?"

"Really Dean. I'm fine."

The same couldn't be said for Sam. The poor guy was still clutching what must have been a bruised jaw - his shoulders were tense, hunched over slightly, his eyes squinting in pain as nimble fingers pressed into his face.

On the plus side, he didn't seem to be bleeding, so at least Gabriel hadn't ruined his pretty mouth.

Clambering out of the car, legs wobbling from the lack of use for the past couple of hours, Gabriel shuffled over to Sam, his hands held out like he was approaching a scared animal. Punching an Alpha just wasn't done unless you were looking to start a fight, and honestly? Gabriel was terrified that this would mean he'd just accidentally refused any further flirting Sam might have put his way.

What Gabriel hadn't expected, was the chuckle from Sam.

"You have a mean right hook, you know that?"

"Huh?"

Sam slowly straightened out, raising to his full height and rubbing at his jaw, moving it to get some feeling back. The grin on his face was wide, and there was a sparkling in his eyes that Gabriel hadn't seen before. "You nearly dislocated my jaw"

"Why do you sound happy about that?" Gabriel's eyes narrowed, and he pursed his lips. A short laugh fell from Sam's lips, and Gabriel could finally recognise the gaze directed towards him. It was warm, open, and- Gabriel flushed. "Urg, you Alpha's and your _bloody_ need for strong mates."

"You totally could have floored me." There was a giddy amusement in Sam's voice.

"I still might." Gabriel shook his fist, though his demeanour was ruined by the grin on his face. "Don't wake a sleeping Omega okay?"

"Got it." With a teasing salute, Sam sauntered back over the car, grin on his face as he started to pull the bags from the back.

"Seriously?" Dean questioned, eyebrows raised as he watched the rather overly joyed Alpha pick up as many bags as he possibly could, a sly glance being sent Gabriel's way before Sam was carrying everything to the front door of the cabin.

The flush still hadn't left Gabriel's face, and he had to use his hand to fan some cold air at his heated flesh.

"Stop encouraging him."

"I can't help it. I didn't know he'd get all worked up over a punch to the face."

Dean narrowed his eyes at Gabriel, before huffing out a laugh, glancing back to Sam. "Yeah. Well. Guess he has a thing for short asses who can pack a punch." Turning his heavy gaze back to Gabriel, Dean pointed a menacing finger at him. "Don't think you're getting out of telling me about that dream. But I'll drop it for now, because some Alpha knot-head clearly wants to impress you-" Dean's gaze flickered over to were Sam was now tapping his foot, gazing over to them with narrowed eyes. "-and he gets prissy when something doesn't go his way."

Taking in a shaking breath, Gabriel walked past Dean and finally took a good look at the cabin. It actually didn't look too bad, the wood was clearly solid, there were no holes in the roof from what he could see, and even the stairs leading up to the door were firm beneath him.

"It belongs to Bobby's friend Rufus, but he can't make it this year, wanted someone to check in for him." Sam offered, holding out a hand for Gabriel to take, his fingers twitching when Gabriel hesitated.

Slipping his hand into Sam's was one of the most wonderful feelings Gabriel had ever felt. It was like the breath was stolen from his mouth, and warmth enveloped him from where their skin touched. "Yeah?" he breathed.

"Yeah." Sam sounded just as breathless, and the pair stared at each other, loosing the world around them as honey met chocolate.

"God-damn it guys, can you not do that on the front porch?" Dean shoved past them, and Sam huffed in irritation, before turning an award winning smile on Gabriel.

"So, surprise! This is my gift to you, a weekend in a cabin with me-"

"And myself, and Dean, and Joanne-Beth." Castiel added, slipping past the pair.

"'Jo' is fine, thanks Cas." Jo was the next to slip past, waggling her eyebrows suggestively at the pair.

Sam sighed, his shoulders slumping as he watched Gabriel bounce into the cabin, closely following Jo and joining the small group with a boisterous laugh.

This was going to be a long weekend.


	4. Chapter 3

Courting for Dummies Chapter 3

Courting Gift (Part 2)

Their first night at the cabin went rather well. They'd ordered pizza, Sam going to collect it from the shop, and the rest of them had started to unpack. There wasn't much that needed to be done, they'd all only packed for the weekend. If Dean hadn't been the one to pack for Gabriel, he was sure they'd have a lot more to do.

There were two rooms that joined; the second only accessible by the first. This was usually for parent's who didn't want their Alpha child to catch wind of their Omega child in heat, though they would not try and mate, the scent would cling to the Alpha, and bring unwanted attention to the Omega from the outside world.

It worked perfectly for the group.

Jo was in the first room, she was chaperone after all and had to make sure Gabriel's virginity stayed intact until the pair were officially bonded. As Dean and Castiel had already taken that step, she wasn't too worried about Dean sneaking out in the middle of the night from his and Gabriel's shared room.

If Dean had been single, or been on a trip without Castiel, he would have been the chaperone, but due to their relationship he couldn't be trusted to guard Gabriel's virtue, if he were to be distracted by his lover, then it would be easy for someone to sneak in and have their way with the young Omega.

Not that Dean would actually ever allow that to happen, but they had to follow the rules, and the rules stated Gabriel needed a chaperone when spending time with Sam, to ensure that nothing untowards should happen between them.

While Sam would be in no trouble, Gabriel would be torn apart, by his family, his doctors, the school. Even if Omega's were no longer viewed as having to stay barefoot and pregnant, they were still easily judged if the rules were not followed. It protected them as well, if an Alpha made it all the way through Courting, and you both still wanted to be together, then they were suitable, and the chaperone was to ensure that every rule was met.

Sam had gone through the same process when Dean and Castiel had started Courting, following his brother around like a lost puppy, to protect him. Thankfully the pair were past that stage now.

While the chaperone had bothered Dean, Gabriel didn't seem phased in the slightest.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Tryin' to figure you out." Gabriel's golden eyes slowly blinked, and he turned to gaze at Dean, curious, but waiting. "You've been trying to get Sam to notice you romantically for ages, right? Hence the leaflet? And now he us, but Jo is the buffer, and you don't even seem upset." Dean's eyes narrowed. "What's the deal, man?"

The shorter Omega's shoulders dropped, and a soft barely there sigh left his lips. "I don't mind Jo. She's a friend, y'know? 'sides, if Michael was the buffer, I wouldn't even get to sit next to Sam. You know what he's like."

Dean huffed out a breath and nodded his head. Gabriel had been courted once before, a couple of years ago. Though Dean didn't know the full story, he'd heard enough. Gabriel was being pressured by the Alpha, manipulated, and the only reason he was still a virgin was thanks to Michael chasing Abaddon out of the house in utter fury. Since then, Gabriel hadn't the guts to court, and Michael's hold on him had been tight. Dean suspected the only reason they were allowed to come out together was because Michael had watched them all grow up together, and perhaps a few words from Ellen had calmed him too.

"Sam's great." Gabriel continued. "He is, really and he'd never hurt me, but-" the past was left unmentioned, and Dean pulled Gabriel into his arms, rubbing comfortingly at his friends shaking back.

"Hey. It's okay. You know, I'm here for you, you're family, okay?"

"Thanks." Gabriel sniffled, pulling back from Dean and pawing the tears from his face, an unimpressed sound falling from his lips. "You made me ugly cry."

With a snort and a roll of his eyes, Dean pushed Gabriel playfully. "Re-do your make-up, pretty boy, Sam'll be back with pizza any minute."

That seemed to perk Gabriel's mood, though if it was due to the food or Sams return, Dean really didn't know. Leaving Gabriel to wash his face, Dean shuffled into the living room of Rufus' cabin.

The TV was smaller than Dean was used to, but he was honestly just glad this place had running water. Pissing in the woods was not his idea of fun.

"Dean." Though Castiel's lips had hardly twitched, Dean could easily recognise the affectionate gaze. The pair were so in-tuned, Dean didn't even need to see Castiel to know his reaction most of the time. Castiel's pale hand cupped Dean's tanned cheek, and the Omega let a soft sigh escape. "You look troubles." The thumb was comforting as it stroked his face, and Dean closed his eyes, giving a small grunt of acknowledgement.

"S'just Gabe." He muttered, eyes flickering shut when soft lips pressed to his own.

"You worry too much."

Dean gave a rather unattractive snort as his fingers curled in the short hairs at the nape of Castiel's neck. Close. Intimate.

"You know I can't help it." Finally forest green eyes opened to gaze into ocean blue.

"Hey." Castiel's breath was ghosting over Dean's lips.

"Hey yourself."

Before they could kiss again a gagging sound had them pulling from each others grip, Jo making the offending noises.

"It's too sweet." She gasped. "Help!" Jo clutched at her chest, falling to her knees. "Diabetic... Coma..."

Gabriel cackled as he watched Dean's face light up, helping Jo back to her feet.

"Fuck you." Dean huffed, arms folding over his chest. If he were a cat, Gabriel was sure he'd seen the Winchesters hackles rising. Flopping onto the sofa with a huff, Dean directed his glare away from his friends to the black screened TV instead.

"Easy princess." Gabriel teased. "It was only a bit of fun." Sinking into the space next to Dean, Gabriel pressed closely to him, his head resting on Dean's shoulder. "Wanna smooch?"

Shoving Gabriel away from him with a laugh, Dean rolled his eyes, Castiel quickly slipping into the newly vacated seat next to his lover. Even on the floor Gabriel was laughing, and Dean could only smile, leaning into Castiel. He could never stay mad at his friends for very long.

Just as Jo and Gabriel settled together on the big sofa, Sam entered the room, boxes of pizza piling high. "Who's hungry?"

It turns out 8 pizzas between the five of them was a little too much, chorused by groans each time one of them shifted.

"I'm having a food baby." Gabriel grumbled, clutching his stomach with a grimace.

"That's one labour I don't want to be around for." the laughs quickly turned to more groans from the group.

"Stop, please." Dean begged. "Don't make me laugh."

Earlier on in the night Sam had declared them all light weights, causing each to eat until they were beyond stuffed, even Sam by finishing off the scraps from the others pizzas. Hey, he was a student, wasting food wasn't an option.

Now further on in the night, they were half way through their second film, all feeling a little more comfortable. Jo had moved to the reclining chair, leaning back to watch the TV, but still keeping an eye on the newly courting pair. Gabriel was pressed into Sams side, eyes glued to the TV, and Sams arm was resting across his shoulders, an almost hug for the pair. Castiel had shifted so he was laying down on his back, Dean sprawled across his chest, both their faces turned to the TV.

Fingers brushed against golden locks, and Gabriel glanced up to Sam, to find the Alpha staring down at him with a goofy smile on his face. Gabriel's eyebrows lifted in a silent question.

"You look happy." Sam had muttered, keeping his voice low to not distract the others from the film.

"What can I say, watching people get brutally murdered usually puts me in a good mood."

With a breathy chuck, Sam rolled his eyes. "Nothing to do with the company then?" His finger was twirling a longer lock of Gabriel's golden hair, and the Omega felt blood rushing his face, his gaze turning shy with lidded eyes and a coy smile.

"You're not too bad, I guess."

Sam was closer to him now, having leant down, and his mouth nudged against Gabriel's ear, his breath causing the Omega to shiver. "Well I think you're amazing."

Squeezing Sams thigh, Gabriel blinked to the Apha through lidded eyes, their foreheads now pressing together, breath ghosting between them.

"Oi!" Gabriel jerked back from Sam, startled, and Jo fixed the pair with a glare. "Hands off." Gabriel's hand left Sam's thigh as if scolded, and their was a snort of laughter from Dean, Castiel muttering 'Busted'.

"And you two." Castiel looked innocently over to Jo, but it was ruined by the squeak Dean let out as his ass was squeezed.

"Cas!"

"Alright, enough!" It was clear Jo was amused, despite her down turned lips. "It's late, time for bed little Omega's." Both Dean and Gabriel whined at this, but Jo wasn't giving up. "Neither of you are even watching this. Come on. Bed." Jo was pulling Dean to his feet, giving Gabriel the chance to untangle himself from Sams hold.

"I'll see you in the morning." Sams wide grin was bright, and it made Gabriel's chest tighten with happiness.

"Sure. G'Night."

"Night Cas." Dean and Castiel shared a loud kiss just to annoy Jo; who then ushered Dean and Gabriel into their room.

"No sneaking out." Dean groaned at Jo's 'Ellen' voice, taking over as protective mother of the two Omegas.

"But Jo-"

"No, Dean. Just because you and Castiel are officially dating doesn't mean I'm going to let you go off while Gabriel has to stay locked away. That's not fair, and you know it." The scolding left Dean with a guilty frown on his face, shoulders slumped and gazing at the floor. Jo may not have been an Alpha, but she was a damned fierce Beta when she needed to be. Dean shuffled away from her and grabbed some clothes to change into.

"It's fine, Jo-"

"It really isn't, Gabriel. You know that."

"I don't mind-"

"-Jo's right, Gabe. It's not fair. 'Sides, been ages since we've had Omega time together." The way Gabriel's face brightened made leaving Cas alone for the night worth it. Though Gabriel and Dean were both sleepy, and wouldn't be able to talk much that night, scenting another Omega always calmed them down, and with someone so close it was the ultimate relaxation.

"Night guys."

"Night Jo." They chorused in unison, shutting their door after Jo left them.

"You seem pretty happy." Dean commented, shuffling out of his clothes. Gabriel followed suit, kicking his clothes to the side. "Yeah. Sam's great. I actually had a lot of fun today, considering we were stuck in a RV for a few hours."

"Yeah." Dean snorted in agreement.

"I'm pretty sure the window opens if you wanted to go see Castiel..."

"And leave you alone with an open window? I don't think so." Now bother in their sleep clothes, lights flicked off, the Omega's crawled into the Queen sized bed together, Dean wrapping his arms around Gabriel's small middle, playing the big spoon. "If Sammy ever hurts you." Dean had mumbled against Gabriel's golden hair. "I won't hesitate to kick his ass, okay? He might be my brother, but you're my best friend."

Instead of making a joke about Dean and chick-flick moments, Gabriel hummed. "Sam with Castiel. I don't care that he's family, because you mean more to me than some blood ties."

With a noise of acknowledgement Dean closed his eyes. "Night Gabe."

"Night Deano."

When Golden eyes blinked open, it was matched with a groan, Gabriels hand numb from where his head had been resting on it. Dean's arms were wrapped tightly around him still, and with a shift of his hips Gabriel confirmed that an erection was pressed against his rear.

It wasn't the first time he'd woken up with Dean like this, and it probably wouldn't be the last either.

"Dean." he mumbled, still half asleep. Turning his head to puff his breath against Dean's cheek, Gabriel tried once more. "Dean." his movements were limited, Dean really was a cuddle whore. "Fatty." Slapping at the hands holding onto him, Gabriel shifted again.

With a groan, Deans eyes finally blinked open, gazing into the Honey colours of Gabriel's gaze. "Mornin'"

"Is that a knife in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?"

Dean snorted, pressing his face into Gabriel's neck, but shifting his hips back from Gabriel's, so they weren't so tightly pressed together any more. "Why is it always 'or'. Why can't I have a knife in my pocket, _and_ be happy to see you?"

"Getting off on killing someone? You're starting to sound like me." The pair laughed, light and happy despite the fact that Dean was still hard. Hell, Gabriel had his first heat while sleeping over at Dean's, if you can get past that you're pretty much set with a friend for life. "You should sort yourself out. If you set off Castiel's rutt early we won't be leaving this cabin for 72 hours."

With a put upon sigh, Dean pulled back completely from Gabriel. "Guess I'll jerk off while you take a shower then."

"Thanks for the mental image." Gabriel crawled over Dean teasingly on his way to the shower, earning a slap to his ass. "Hands off the goods." Gabriel winked, slipping into their adjoining bathroom.

Gabriel took his time in the shower, waking up with Dean was on thing, he didn't actually need to witness how the Omega pleasured himself. The scent of Strawberries and Cream filled the bathroom, and Gabriel hummed in delight. At home he wasn't able to use his scented soaps, no matter how much he wanted to, thanks to his brothers mates allergies. The sooner that the pair moved out of that house and into their own (still being renovated) place, the better. Rinsing off, Gabriel turned off the shower, just standing for a moment and taking a breath. A whole weekend Sam gave him as a courting gift, and yeah, today was already Sunday; making the weekend practically over, but he was still nervous he'd mess this up. On the plus side non of them had classes until Monday afternoon, so they would most likely stay for one more night, leaving early in the morning.

Making his way over to the mirror hanging above the sink, Gabriel scrubbed his teeth clean pulling a few cheesy grins at himself. Jumping at the knock on the door, Gabriel wrapped a towel around his waist quickly, throwing it open to reveal Dean looking sheepish. "Just need t'shower."

Wrinkling his nose, Gabriel gave Dean a pointed look "Damn right you do, you stink like sex."

Huffing, Dean pushed his way into the bathroom. "Don't let me ruin your beauty routine." Rolling his eyes, Gabriel closed the door after Dean, re-locking it. Moving back to the mirror, Gabriel pushed at his cheeks, making his face appear thinner, arching his neck to get rid of his small double chin. He was short, and he liked to eat cakes, he knew it was his own fault, that he should take better care of his diet, but at the same time, eating salad didn't make him happy, having a big slice of cake did.

Gabriel's hands slid down his neck, his chest, to rest on his hips, pinching his love handles. Thankfully all of his running around kept his belly slim, but he still wasn't happy with his body, with how it was filling out. "Maybe I should go on a diet?" Gabriel called out over the sound of the shower, causing Dean to curse and slap the water off, his head poking around the shower curtain, hair spiked into a mohawk with some scentless shampoo.

"What?"

"Maybe I should go on a diet." Gabriel repeated, pulling at his love handles with a disgusted face.

"Why the hell are you thinking about dieting?"

"Do you have soap in your eyes or something?"

"Dude."

"This!" Gabriel motioned down his body once more, his eyes wide as he stared at Dean. "Sam isn't going to like this!"

"Fuck that." Dean stepped out of the shower, careless about his naked body, frown etched on his face "Gabriel you're fucking gorgeous, okay? Who the fuck cares that you got a little more to cuddle? Sam should be fucking honoured that you're even given him the time of day, you hear me? Because you're God-damn perfect, and your ass is like-" Dean made a lewd hand gesture. "I would kill to have an ass like yours. So fuck this self hate thing you have going on, because it doesn't suit you. You're confident, you're sexy, start acting like it."

Now flushing, Gabriel offered Dean a shy smile, his eyes fluttering at the praise from his friend. "Thanks."

"Just stop being stupid, okay?"

"Got it."

Dean stepped back into the shower, slapping the handle so the water rushed back on, cursing at the cold that covered him for a moment before it was blissfully warm once more. By the time Dean had finished in the shower, Gabriel was fully dressed, adding the final touches to his make-up. Dean wriggled his nose in dislike, but moved to get dressed himself. He'd never been a fan of make-up, wearing it, or seeing it on others, though Gabriel was pretty talented at the whole application thing.

Pulling on some boxers, and then Jeans, Dean searched around for his favourite t-shirt, the one Cas had given him a few weeks ago.

"This is meant to be a relaxing weekend." Gabriel announced, walking behind Dean and holding out the shirt he'd been searching for. "No worrying allowed."

Snatching the top, Dean rolled his eyes. "Got it. No worrying. That means you too, okay?"

"Yeah yeah, now come on." Pulling on the top, Dean was tugged out of the room and past Jo by an eager Gabriel. Jo called after them, but Dean waved her off. He could look after Gabriel for a little while by himself after all.

Just as the pair walked into the living room, Sam came in through the front door, his hair pushed back, still in his running gear. The elder Winchester rolled his eyes. Perfect timing. Sam was still sweating, muscle shirt clinging to his body, ear phones hanging from the front of his shirt where he'd pull them out. Gabriel couldn't pull his eyes from those strong arms, it was making his mouth water and something stir low in his belly.

The younger Winchester's face lit up with a smile. "Morning."

"H-Hey." Gabriel choked out.

"You look great." Sams breathy response made Gabriel flush from head to toe, and he resisted the urge to hide behind Dean; the hungry gaze making him quiver with delight.

"Yeah, uh, Make-up does wonders." Geeze, it was like now Sam knew Gabriel was trying to get in his pants the Omega was suddenly speechless all the time. Thankfully Dean was taking pity on him.

"Dude, you reak, go take a shower and stop bugging me with your musk."

"You love my musk." Sam huffed, pushing past Dean to head to his room, shooting a small smile Gabriel's way before he disappeared from their sight.

"What the hell man?!"

"I don't know!" Gabriel hissed back. "It's like my brain cut all connections to my mouth!"

Dean sighed, his lips pushing together in thought. "You never had this problem before."

"Yeah I know."

"It's because you're trying to impres him." Jo entered the room, hair curled and fresh faced.

"That makes no sense. I wasn't like this while trying to get him to notice me."

"No, because if he didn't notice you, there was nothing to loose. But now with him courting you, there is everything to loose."

"So I'm going to be flustered and idiotic forever?"

With a roll of her eyes, Jo gave Gabriel a pointed look. "You need to stop worrying about loosing him, and enjoy having him." It made sense, sure, but everything always sounded easier in theory. Thankfully the attention on Gabriel's love life stopped when Castiel stumbled into the room, hair mussed and Pyjama pants dragging along the floor, slung around his hips. Beside him Dean whimpered, and Gabriel had to hold in his laugh,

"G'mornin'." Castiel moved to kiss Dean, only to get a hand pushing his face away.

"Dude. Brush your teeth and get dressed, no-one wants to see you half naked in the morning." The dazed look hadn't left Castiel's face, but he nodded his head, stumbling back to his room. Deans face was flushed, and he folded his arms over his chest, looking put out that he didn't get to spend his morning with a half naked and affectionate Castiel.

Finally, Gabriel erupted into laughter, Jo joining him, the pair leaning against each other as their bodies shook. Gabriel was heaving in breaths when Sam rejoined him, and in that moment Gabriel realised that Sam had been just as tense as he was, Gabriel's now open laughter bringing an easy smile from Sam's face, dimples and all.

"Why are we laughing?"

Dean just grumbled in response, the flush not leaving his face. "Gabriel's being a dickwad."

"I'm sure that's not true." Sam defended, noticing that Gabriel and Jo had finally managed to get their laughs under control, calming down.

"I was kind of a dick, yeah." Gabriel admitted. "But Dean's grumpy embarrassed face is just too adorable."

"Fuck you, I'm manly as fuck, not adorable!"

"Yeah, you're the manliest Omega I know." Gabriel teased.

"Whatever."

"Please boys, don't start any prank wars, my hair is only just back to blonde." Both Omega's whined, but kept their grins. They hadn't meant for Jo to get caught between their bickering last time, and though they had all ended up laughing, it still wasn't worth the scolding they'd gotten from Ellen.

Castiel sauntered back into the room, hair still damp from his shower, but teeth brushed and clothes in place. Finally Dean allowed his Alpha a morning kiss.

"You two are sickening sweet, you know that right?" Jo groaned.

"We do it just to piss you off." Dean grinned. Rolling her eyes, Jo pushed past the pair, unable to take much more of their smooching.

"Come on, Mum said Rufus had a bunker around here somewhere, and if we find it he'll totally freak, it'll be _awesome_."

Together the five left the cabin, in search of the 'bunker'.

"I don't think it's real." Gabriel announced as he climbed on top of a rotting log, testing its balance. "He's just an old man, he makes stuff up."

"Maybe, but why make up having a secret bunker?"

Gabriel shot Sam his ' _did you really just ask that question_?' look, one eyebrow quirked and his lips pressed into a thin line.

"Okay, it does sound _kinda_ cool. But maybe he just said it so we'd be out in the woods looking instead of snooping around his cabin."

"The lake stops us from snooping around his cabin, Sam. The bunker just makes us wander into the woods without weapons for protection."

" _I'll_ protect you, Dean."


	5. Chapter 4

Courting for Dummies Chapter 4

"I'll protect you, Dean." Gabriel mimicked Castiel, using a large stick he found to poke at the ground as they moved further into the forest. "From gross little bugs and leaves that might fall on your pretty nose-hey!" Dean had pushed against him, and Gabriel stumbled for a moment, chuckling.

"You're such a dick sometimes, you know that right?"

"Only sometimes?" Gabriel whined. "I must be loosing my touch."

"If it's any consolation I think you're a dick most of the time." Castiel offered, his sincerity causing Dean to snort and Gabriel to give him a half hearted glare.

"Why thank you, brother. It means a lot to me that you think that." Sarcasm, as usual, seemed to be lost on Castiel, who simply smiled in return.

The sun was still low in the sky, signalling the early morning, and Gabriel let the breeze rush across his face, the light warming him. Like this, eyes closed and standing in the sun, he could forget about the world around him.

"Hey." Jumping slightly, golden eyes blinked open to stare into emerald. "You can lay in the sun later, shouldn't you be spending some quality time with Sam?"

Glancing ahead, Gabriel spotted Sam at the front of their small group, chatting away with Castiel about the local wildlife, Jo following closely behind but sending back a worried glance.

Dean was right, Gabriel should be up there with Sam, making memories. Just as he was about to run forwards Sam turned to look back, the sun shining bright behind him and making Gabriel's breath catch in his throat for a moment. A dimpled smile, a breeze to move Sam's hair, and Gabriel was lost all over again.

"Come on dip shit, you can't stare at him all day." Dean rolled his eyes, grabbing Gabriel's arm and dragging him forwards.

"Me 'n' Cas thought we could look for the bunker till lunch, then take a wander back to the cabin and take a dive in the lake."

It should have been illegal for someone to look happy, Gabriel decided, but he couldn't help but grin along with Sam, raising his fine eyebrows in amusement. "I don't have swimming trunks, so looks like it's skinny dipp-"

"-luckily for all of us, Gabe, I'm the one who packed your bag, and you do in fact, have swimming trunks."

Immediately Gabriel's joyous expression dropped and he pouted, looking over his shoulder to Dean with the best hurt look he could manage. "You always ruin my fun."

"What are best friends for."

"Apparently to cock block you"

"No, that's my job." Jo piqued in, grin on her face as she skipped up ahead. "Come on slow pokes, we'll never get very far with you lot chatting back there."

"With the way you're moving it's as if this bunker is full of gold." Dean yelled ahead. Jo turned, eyes sparkling with something that made Gabriel shiver.

"Even better. Rufus' hoard of weapons."

Now this was something Gabriel _had_ to see.

-pagebreak-

Gabriel was somewhat thankful that they had given up on the search for Rufus' 'Bunker'. He doubted the thing even existed, and it was giving him far too much trouble.

No hoard of weapons was worth the hell he was putting his skin through. He could feel the sunburn across his face, and judging from Sams glances the Alpha could tell he was irritable.

By no means was Gabriel a creature who enjoyed the indoors, give him open spaces any day of the week, but he also had horribly sensitive skin, coupled with the fact that he had no sun lotion, and it was bloody hot when they weren't in the shades of the trees, made for a very irritable Omega.

That lake was looking more and more appealing.

The sun was high in the sky by the time they made it back to the cabin, and Gabriel was first through the doors to change into his swimming trunks. It was only a glance in the mirror that made him flinch. Oh, his skin was slightly red, sure, but the look on his face had been one of pure malice. That wasn't how he had wanted the weekend to go at all.

It was meant to be fun, making memories. Gabriel was suppose to be enjoying his courting gift and so far he'd had awkward times with Sam and Deans boner poking him in the back.

Well he wasn't going to let a little red ruin his weekend.

Nodding to himself in the mirror, Gabriel changed into his trunks, patting some cold water on his face before giving himself a once over, grin wide.

He was going to rock Sam's world with that smile, he knew it.

Confidence back in place, Gabriel all but skipped back outside.

"You're looking chirpier." Dean had shrugged off his shirt, laying by the side of the lake in his shorts, soaking up the sun.

"Gotta make the most of this weekend, right? Can't do that while I'm inside moaning about sunburn. You coming for a swim?"

Dean arched his eyebrows, sitting up to look out over the lake.

Jo was sat on the edge of the dock, her feet just reaching the water, but inside the lake was Castiel, shirtless and swimming backwards. "I'd rather admire the view from here." Dean murmured, moving so that he was laying on his front, giving him a better view of his Alpha.

"Yeah yeah, don't go stinking up the place with your slick, mister." Gabriel playfully kicked Dean's shoulder on his way past.

Stood on the dock next to Jo, Gabriel stared out at the clear water, hands on his hips.

"Not going for a swim?"

Slapping a hand to his chest, Gabriel let out a wheezing breath, turning to glance at Sam over his shoulder. "Really? Must you really sneak up on me like that?"

"Couldn't help myself?" Sam offered, looking a little sheepish. "So are you coming for a swim with me?"


	6. Chapter 5

Courting for Dummies Chapter 5

The image of golden skin, dripping with glistening clear water would forever be etched into Gabriels mind.

On his death bed, he will think of that gorgeous tanned and long body and die a happy Omega. It just so happened that Sam turned a delicious shade of tan rather easily, that mixed with the swimming meant he was all sorts of delectable.

A certain drop of water had caught Gabriel's full attention. It was making a path from Sams collar bone, over his muscular chest, down the toned stomach before disappearing to his rather annoying and concealing swimming trunks. If Gabriel ever became president he was going to ban swimming trunks for hotties like Sam.

"Urg, put some clothes on Sam. No one wants to see your man boobs."

Snapping back to reality, Gabriel's eyes flickered to the pout on Sams adorable face at Deans demand. It made him look like an oversized 12 years old who just found out Santa isn't real, and Gabriel laughed to himself at the utter disappointment the big Alpha was giving off in waves.

Clearly Sam wanted to show off. The Alpha wanted to posture and pose, proving himself worthy of Gabriel's affections. Not that it needed proving at all.

Still, Dean threw the towel he'd been sunbathing on at Sams chest, making more noises of disgust. Gabriel knew what his best friend was doing and honestly he was grateful. As much as Gabriel would thoroughly enjoy staring at Sams body for the rest of his life, he had to be cautious.

By no means would Sam take advantage of him, but there were strict protocols that needed to be followed and adhered to.

Still, that didn't stop Gabriel from throwing his own towel at Castiel's body once he was out of the water, just a little bit of payback. If Gabriel couldn't ogle Sam why would he allow Dean to ogle Castiel? Nevertheless they would all need to leave in the morning to get back in time for their Monday evening classes, so staring at partly naked bodies would have to be put on hold for a little while.

A necessary evil he supposed.

"Go on boys, go get dried off. Me 'n' Deano are in charge of dinner tonight!" Of course that would have meant more if they weren't just ordering from a takeaway. Had Gabriel been aware that he was going to be in a remote cabin in the woods for the weekend with Sam he might have actually bought things to cook, so as to impress the hunk of Alpha that was walking away from him.

Hated to see him leave but loved to watch him go.

"Stop panicking so much." Dean hissed, grabbing Gabriels thin wrist and tugging him back to the cabin a little bit behind the Alphas. "If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times. Sam adores you. He doesn't care that you're messy or a loud mouth, or a terrible flirt. All he cares about is that you love him back. Now stop being such a wimp and Alpha up."

Blinking, Gabriel was shocked speechless at Deans outburst. Sure, Gabriel was a little out of character but –

"Listen to me." Deans tanned hands were cupping Gabriels face, ensuring they kept eye contact. For once Dean even seemed sincere, and that was the real shocker! "Gabriel. You're my best friend in the whole goddamn world. I can tell you my secrets and cry on your shoulder, knowing you would stand with me till the end. More than that, more than anything, I want you to feel safe, to be safe."

Deans eyes were flickering as if searching Gabriels for acknowledgement.

"Pull your head out of your arse and get your act together."

A startled laugh escaped Gabriels lips, but he grinned. "Was the love confession really needed Deano?"

"Hells yeah it was. How else am I meant to soften that thick skull of yours huh?"

Slapping at Deans arm, Gabriel rolled his eyes. Honestly? He didn't know what he'd do without his amazing friends. A nudge to the back of his legs had him turning to face Jo, a beautiful smile gracing her soft features.

"I'm much less sappy, but for real, Sam adores you. And if he didn't? He wouldn't be worth your time. Keep that in mind."

Mock saluting his friend Gabriel nodded his head. No more nerves. No more stumbling. Sam had agreed to court the bumbling mess that Gabriel happened to be, so he should stop trying to fight it.

"Can't change who you are, huh?"

"Why would you want to?" Came the confused response from the doorway. It seemed that while the three of them were ambling along the Alpha's had gone off ahead with ease to get changed as instructed. Amazing that Alpha's actually took orders. Sam was freshly showered after his swim, and looked just as appealing in jeans and a shirt.

"Certainly not me!" Gabriel announced, wide grin on his face.

"Good." Sam smiled back, those perfect dimples forming on his face. "Because I like you just the way you are. Bad mouth included."

"Please." Gabriel arched one of his eyebrows, pulling his best sassing face. "My bad mouth happens to be my best quality."

Dean and Jo gave a laugh, slapping him on the back as they moved past him. "It's his only quality Sam. Now. We having Chinese tonight? Ellen said there is a great place that actually delivers this far out."

Three hours later and they had only just finished eating.

Not only had the food been great, but when the delivery address was mentioned they even got some freebies. Apparently Rufus was a great tipper, so the restaurant had wanted to treat his guests.

Both Omega's pitched in with cleaning away the rubbish, easily moving around each other in the kitchen. They were activists sure, didn't believe in the 'common' roles for Omegas, but hey, they both loved to cook and would often find themselves stepping over each other.

Jo mumbling to herself was hardly noticeable to the two in the kitchen. That was until she spoke up, voice a little shaky. "Guys can you just stop for a minute please?" Both Omegas turned to face Jo, looks of pure innocence on their face, as if they hadn't just been throwing empty cartons at each other. They had to make kitchen work interesting somehow, right?

"Sup Jo?" She was still scrolling through her phone, eyebrows pinched together. "Earth to Jo?" Gabriel glanced at Dean in curiosity and they silently agreed to investigate the fuss. Sam and Castiel, picking up on Jo's increased worry through her scent, appeared behind them as they peered over Jo's shoulder.

"There was a murder on campus."

"…What?"

"Murder." Jo repeated. "On our campus. You know? That place where we live."

Sam was leaning closer now, eyes scanning the article just as Jo's did. "Doesn't look like they're giving names yet, but they're from the O Ward. Maybe a hate crime?"

As much as Omegas were treasured in modern days, there were still those who went by the old rules. Who hated Omegas, just saw them as breeders. If a 'breeder' refused one of these Alphas they were killed on the spot. And on the rare occasions they weren't? Publicly executed as a message to others.

"But that's not possible, is it?" Dean questioned with a quiver in his voice, glancing to Castiel. "I thought the school had a huge screening test to stop this kind of thing?"

Mouth drawn into a tight line, Castiel pulled out his own phone. "I'll contact the principle. If there is a rouge Alpha hanging around we need to set up watch in the campus and surrounding area. Please excuse me."

Watching Castiel leave the room, Gabriel hummed in thought. "If it was a rouge Alpha, wouldn't the scent be easy to distinguish from the students and faculty?"

Sam tensed beside him, and Jo sighed. "Possibly. All we can do is keep an eye out for any weird activity. School hasn't been closed so it's back to night classes tomorrow." The worry was still coming off in waves from Jo and it was doing nothing to ease the tension in the room. Surely a murder warranted a closure of the school? Even if it was for a couple of days?

Sam cupped the back of Gabriels neck in his large palm and the Omega felt some of the tension leave his body. There was nothing to worry about, surely? One attack very rarely lead to a spree, and they had security as well as very overprotective Alpha's.

"I won't let anything happy to you. I promise."


	7. Chapter 6

Courting for Dummies Chapter 6

The drive back to Campus was tense to say the least.

The fear of the camper van falling apart was long gone, the news of the murder still hanging heavy in the air.

Castiel's phone call with the principal had left him in a bitter mood, the only thing he'd managed to do that night was hold Dean in his arms and scent him, nuzzling against his mates neck and growling when anyone approached (Gabriel included!).

Though Castiel and Dean were mated, Dean wasn't out of the line of fire. If anything it made him more prone to attacks from Traditional Alphas.

Dean Winchester was the ideal Omega. Though Dean would deny it to the day he died, it was true. With a beautiful complexion and great hips, Dean was aesthetically pleasing, but the kicker? Dean was great with children, loved to cook, and was honestly the most sought after Omega in the area, even though he was mated.

On a normal day this would only make Castiel slightly possessive, an arm around Dean's middle, a well timed kiss. But add in a murder and the threat of Deans life? The poor Omega would be lucky to walk straight until the murderer was caught.

Gabriel on the other hand, would be lucky if he got five minutes to himself. Dean was being extra protective of him thanks to his rather negative history with Kali, which meant Castiel was there too. Add in worried Sam to the mix, plus their assigned buffer Jo, and the five were suddenly inseparable.

Much to Gabriel's dismay.

Thankfully Monday nights class went off without a hitch.

No one mentioned the murder, the air was far too crisp with the stench of fear. A curfew had been implemented, extra security guards placed around the O Ward, panic buzzers handed to each Omega. Everyone was informed that if they saw anything unusual they were to report it immediately.

The campus, though still open, had taken a lot of precautionary measures to ensure its students safety.

Yet all of these measures didn't stop Sam scenting Gabriel every few minutes to make sure he wasn't suddenly anxious, or had somehow picked up a foreign Alpha's stench. Nor did it stop the constant phone calls to him and Dean, or the general panic that was sweeping through the campus.

If it weren't for the fact that each gender had to stay in their assigned dorm after curfew, Gabriel was certain that the five would be crammed into one bed.

"Call me if you need anything."

"Sam if you break curfew they'll suspend you."

"I'm serious Gabe. Anything at all. If one of the guards gives you a weird look, or if they try and come into your dorm, give me a call and I'll come straight over-"

Gabriel pressed his palm over Sams mouth, his eyes narrowed as he stared down (up to) the Alpha. Since he'd found out that Sam liked it when he pushed him, Gabriel hadn't been so afraid of showing his true stubborn nature.

Gabriel knew a kink when he saw one.

"Samuel Johnathon Winchester. You will head back to your dorm. Get changed into your pj's, brush your teeth and go to bed. If you feel the need to text me you may do so, but do not expect a reply as I am tired and will be sleeping. I have my alarm, and there are patrols all around this Ward. I also know self-defence and could take you a fight."

Gabriel ignored the quirk of an eyebrow and the smile against his palm, deciding to move his hand away, folding his arms over his chest.

Now was _not_ the time for Sam to be giving off those 'try me' pheromones.

"I will be fine. Dean will be fine. Now _go_ before you get suspended."

"You're so sexy when you're bossing me around." Sam all but purred, more waves of those delicious pheromones leaving his body as he leant forwards to kiss Gabriel goodbye.

Unfortunately for Sam, Jo'd had enough of waiting around, and grabbed him by the back of his collar, pulling him backwards. (She was making the most of her strength over the sappy Alpha, soon he would be too tall for her to be able to even reach his collar.)

"Night boys! Holla if you need anything."

Dean and Gabriel watched as their friends left. As soon as they were out of sight the door was closed and bolted. Though they had a patrol and personal alarms, a little extra security could go a long way in making them feel safer.

"Sam really has a kink, huh?"

"Dude that is _so_ gross I don't want to know about your love life." Dean laughed, pulling the curtains closed and switching on their lamp, just as Gabriel turned off the main light.

"Dean. Did you _smell_ him? I mean I'm all for bossing Alpha's around, but I sure hope he likes to take charge in the bedroom."

"Gabriel." Looking up, Gabriel's golden eyes met Deans forest green ones. "Fuck off."

Snorting out a laugh, Gabriel sat on the edge of his bed, pulling off his shoes and rubbing his sore feet. The day had been long and stressful, already he could hear his bed calling for him.

"Did you know him?"

"Who?" Gabriel asked, even though he was well aware of the person Dean was asking about. How could he not know? It had been announced upon their arrival back at Campus.

Who the Omega Victim was.

"Matt Pike. I've been thinking all day of where I know the name from and I've come up blank. Which means you knew him." Dean shuffled closed to Gabriel before sitting himself down next to his friend, their shoulders bumping in a form of comfort. "You knew him. Right?"

"Yeah." Gabriel breathed. It was hard to admit, truthfully. It still didn't feel real, to say that Matt was dead. The kid was so kind, had one of the brightest smiles Gabriel had ever seen. Sure, he was a bit weird, had an obsession with bugs, but he was still such a great guy.

Gabriel picked at the fabric of his trousers, chest heavy.

Matt was going to be joining them in the formation of the Omega council. That's how Dean had heard the name. Gabriel had been _so_ excited.

"You wanna talk about it?" Dean offered. It was sweet, considering how emotionally constipated Dean was. Were the situation a little lighter Gabriel might have even joked about his friends sudden sensitivity.

"I just want to sleep." Admitting that much was easy. The next part was harder. "Can we share a bed tonight?" It wasn't that uncommon for the pair to do so. A bad day in class, a fallout with one of their friends and they would sleep on the same bed and cuddle. It was important for Omega's to have the comfort of those close to them.

Gabriel and Dean had always been that point of comfort for each other.

"Yeah. We can do that. How 'bout you go shower, leave the water going and I'll jump in after you. Then we'll sleep."

Standing up, Gabriel started to pull off his top, but paused. "You won't tell Sam, right? It's just, he's worried enough already and-"

"Gabe. If you don't want me to tell him then I won't. My mouth is sealed. Now go get that sexy butt into the shower so that we get some sleep already." Watching Gabriel get undressed as he walked to their bathroom, Dean waited until the door was locked before he jumped for his phone.

Telling Sam was out of the question, but Castiel deserved to know, and he wouldn't overreact too much.

Sensible under pressure, that was his Alpha.

By the time Gabriel was finished in the shower Dean had received many worried texts, but also a promise from Castiel not to mention his newly found knowledge to Gabriel or Sam. Trust was important between Dean and Gabriel, but if the truth did slip out Dean would simply admit that he told Castiel everything. Which he did.

"Waters running for you, best get it while it's still hot."

"Sweet. Why don't you make a pillow fort on your bed and I'll jump in after I get naked and wet."

\- Break -

Birds were singing. The sun was shining. Gabriel was spooning one of the most comfortable things in the entire world. It also smelt pretty good too. Not quite awesome, but good enough for Gabriel to press his nose into the crook of a neck.

"Gabriel, as much as I enjoy your morning cuddles, we need to get up or we'll miss class."

"Pillows should mind their own Goddamn business and not complain so early in the morning about cuddles." Gabriel growled into Deans neck, his arm tightening around his friend. "Unless you have the promise of chocolate and coffee you better shut up and let me sleep."

Dean grunted in response. Gabriel's super human strength had always had him curious, though he had never figured out how such a small Omega got so strong. Or maybe Dean's ribs were worn down from all of the previous hugging he'd had.

Dean did love hugs after all.

"Sam'll be here soon to take to you to class." Immediately that had a groan coming from Gabriel. He didn't want to get up and get dressed, he wanted to smother Dean with a real pillow and just sleep for an eternity. But on the other hand, if he got dressed and didn't kill Dean, he might get a good morning kiss from Sam.

Both were very enticing options.

"You get to live another day, Dean." Untangling himself from his best friend, Gabriel made his way to the bathroom. It was while he was brushing his teeth that he felt a chill against the back of his neck. Like all of his hairs were standing on end, or someone had 'walked over' his 'grave'.

"Gabe!" Dean was in the doorway, his eyes panicked.

Now Gabriel knew something was really wrong. It's like the tension of the whole O Ward had just tripled in a matter of seconds. Spitting out his toothpaste, Gabriel wiped the side of his mouth and pushed past Dean, heading for their door.

Just as he was about to undo the lock, the handle turned, a jerking motion shaking the wooden door in its frame.


End file.
